The Differences Between HD-DVD and Blu Ray Disk
Home Theater Programming Sources
Better DVDs - Blu Ray, HD-DVD, Windows Media Video
HD-DVD / Blu-Ray Disc Update: Reports from many sources in the field indicate some of the
early HD-DVD players had problems including very slow transport times and synch issues.
Our experience here at 1touchmovie.com was with the Toshiba HD-XA1. It's built like a tank,
and is, in fact a Pentium 4 based box, running Linux. It has a rear-mounted cooling fan,
HDMI & component video, and Ethernet ports on the back. Most viewing was done on a
Stewart Filmscreen, StudioTek 130, 123" dia, 16:9 screen illuminated by a Vidikron Vision
Model 90 3-chip DLP projector. The video was fantastic. NOTE: Set the player to 1080i, not
720p to match the display's native resolution, as you'd think. At 720p, the payer
downconverts to 480p, then back up to 720p. The video suffers for it.
LG, who indicated that a combo HD-DVD / Blu-Ray Disc player would be forthcoming, finally
introduced one in Q4 of 2006. That was follwed about 8 months later by a similar combo
HD-DVD / Blu Ray player from Samsung. If the battle fails to be sorted out more will be
introduced from other companies. *See HD-DVD / Blu-Ray format war update at right*
early HD-DVD players had problems including very slow transport times and synch issues.
Our experience here at 1touchmovie.com was with the Toshiba HD-XA1. It's built like a tank,
and is, in fact a Pentium 4 based box, running Linux. It has a rear-mounted cooling fan,
HDMI & component video, and Ethernet ports on the back. Most viewing was done on a
Stewart Filmscreen, StudioTek 130, 123" dia, 16:9 screen illuminated by a Vidikron Vision
Model 90 3-chip DLP projector. The video was fantastic. NOTE: Set the player to 1080i, not
720p to match the display's native resolution, as you'd think. At 720p, the payer
downconverts to 480p, then back up to 720p. The video suffers for it.
LG, who indicated that a combo HD-DVD / Blu-Ray Disc player would be forthcoming, finally
introduced one in Q4 of 2006. That was follwed about 8 months later by a similar combo
HD-DVD / Blu Ray player from Samsung. If the battle fails to be sorted out more will be
introduced from other companies. *See HD-DVD / Blu-Ray format war update at right*
There are exciting times ahead for the DVD. DVD has been the fastest growing consumer
electronics product in history, eclipsing the previous champion, DSS home satellite
systems. In 1997, barely 300,000 DVD players were sold. By 2004 the yearly sales figures
topped 37 million! The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) estimates that 73 million
US households have at least 1 DVD player. Now DVD is poised to evolve into its latest
incarnation, one with resolution equal to, or approaching, HDTV.
There have been at least six formats vying to be the new high definition DVD standard.
There are three front runners; HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and Windows Media Video-HD. Windows
Media must be played in a PC with a DVD drive. HD-DVD and Blu Ray will have traditional
style players. At some point that may be an option of WMV-HD as well.
One of these, Blu-Ray Disc, uses a different color laser than existing DVDs. Existing
DVDs use a red laser, while the Blu-Ray Disc uses a blue/violet laser. This new laser is one
of the secrets to getting the greater disc capacity required to fit HD-quality video onto a
standard sized DVD. The new blue laser has a much shorter wavelength than the existing
red laser. This allows the pits that DVD uses to alternately interrupt and reflect the laser
light to be much smaller and closer together. The distance between the rows of pits on the
disc is known as "track pitch". The finer the track pitch, the more information can be fit into
the same space. The new Sony Play Station 3 game console includes a Blu-Ray Disc drive.
The availability of a high end game console that includes such a drive for around $500
gave a boost to this format, despite it being beat to market by HD-DVD.
Making the blue laser function reliably for the long term was one of the challenges that was
overcome to bring the new DVD formats to market. As recently as five years ago such
lasers were only capable of operating for around 100 hours before they failed. This
obviously was far too short to use as the basis for a consumer electronics product.
There are many differences between the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray systems.
electronics product in history, eclipsing the previous champion, DSS home satellite
systems. In 1997, barely 300,000 DVD players were sold. By 2004 the yearly sales figures
topped 37 million! The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) estimates that 73 million
US households have at least 1 DVD player. Now DVD is poised to evolve into its latest
incarnation, one with resolution equal to, or approaching, HDTV.
There have been at least six formats vying to be the new high definition DVD standard.
There are three front runners; HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and Windows Media Video-HD. Windows
Media must be played in a PC with a DVD drive. HD-DVD and Blu Ray will have traditional
style players. At some point that may be an option of WMV-HD as well.
One of these, Blu-Ray Disc, uses a different color laser than existing DVDs. Existing
DVDs use a red laser, while the Blu-Ray Disc uses a blue/violet laser. This new laser is one
of the secrets to getting the greater disc capacity required to fit HD-quality video onto a
standard sized DVD. The new blue laser has a much shorter wavelength than the existing
red laser. This allows the pits that DVD uses to alternately interrupt and reflect the laser
light to be much smaller and closer together. The distance between the rows of pits on the
disc is known as "track pitch". The finer the track pitch, the more information can be fit into
the same space. The new Sony Play Station 3 game console includes a Blu-Ray Disc drive.
The availability of a high end game console that includes such a drive for around $500
gave a boost to this format, despite it being beat to market by HD-DVD.
Making the blue laser function reliably for the long term was one of the challenges that was
overcome to bring the new DVD formats to market. As recently as five years ago such
lasers were only capable of operating for around 100 hours before they failed. This
obviously was far too short to use as the basis for a consumer electronics product.
There are many differences between the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray systems.
|
HD-DVD Update NOTE:
Initially, both HD-DVD players and Blu-Ray Disc players were only going to output high
definition video through their HDMI outputs as a copy protection measure. With the first
generation of HD-DVD players, at least, this is not the case. They give a full 1280 x 720 @
60Hz output through their component jacks (and 1080p through HDMI). This, astoundingly
enough, was due to a decision by content providers to allow component HD output unless
widespread piracy becomes a problem.
It was announced in January of 2005 that the following titles would be available for HD-DVD
in time for the traditionally busy Christmas shopping season:
Warner Brothers / NewLine:
“Batman Begins,” “Constantine,” Tim Burton's “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”,
"Ocean's Eleven", “Ocean's Twelve”, "Catwoman", "Million Dollar Baby", "Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", "Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban", “The Polar Express,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and titles from the
“The Matrix” franchise,"Mystic River", "The Perfect Storm", plus about 25 more feature
films. In addition, the HBO series "The Sopranos" will be included.
Paramount:
“The Manchurian Candidate,” “Elizabethtown,” “Braveheart,” “Forrest Gump,” “SpongeBob
SquarePants,” “Coach Carter,” “Italian Job,” “School of Rock,” “Sky Captain and the World
of Tomorrow,” “Ghost,” “Mission Impossible 2,” “Black Rain,” “Save The Last Dance,”
“Sleepy Hollow,” “U2 Rattle and Hum,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Star Trek:
First Contact,” “We Were Soldiers” and “Grease.”
Universal:
"The Bourne Supremacy", "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Van Helsing", "Apollo 13", "U-571",
"12 Monkeys", "Dune", "The Thing", "End of Days", "Backdraft", "Waterworld", "The Bone
Collector", "Spy Game", "Pitch Black", "Conan the Barbarian", "Dante's Peak"
There are some issues to be concerned with relating to HD-DVD and Blu Ray players. In
July of 2005, Toshiba indicated their new HD-DVD players would only support HD
resolutions through the HDMI outputs. All analog outputs, including component, would be
downrezed to 480p. If your TV or video display does not include HDMI, be aware of this
provision. Other manufacturers will probably follow suit.
Windows Media - HD discs are, as the name suggests, encoded using Microsoft's
Windows Media Video codec. It allows for both 720p and 1080p resolutions on the same
disc. One caveat, the audio is Windows Media Pro 5.1. Currently you must have a surround
sound receiver or processor that can decode this format. Most cannot. The other option is
to use a computer with an Nvidia nForce2 motherboard with SoundStorm. That can
transcode the Windows Media Pro audio to Dolby Digital and output it through the
computer's S/PDIF connection. You can then use any audio processor with Dolby Digital
5.1 decoding.
Microsoft is reportedly making at least ten feature films available in Windows Media high
definition by the 2005 holiday shopping season. With Microsoft's resources, it could
obviously make many more if it chose to. With the proliferation of HTPCs from many
different vendors, we may yet see those WMV-HD discs appear.
Windows Media HD Update - It looks as though the arrival of HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray Disc
may have effectively killed the widespread commercial availability of feature films on WMHD
discs. HD-DVD and BR Disc computer drives will give HTPC owners the ability to access HD
content from the same discs they can play on the player in their living room or home
theater. As of mid 2006 the only new feature film listed on the Microsoft website was Titanic
- Special Edition. Ironically, in time physical media will probably go away entirely, ceding the
home movie market to downloaded content, some of which will undoubtedly use WMV-HD.
Blank HD-DVD & Blu Ray Disc Media-
There were numerous displays of both Dlu-Ray Discs and HD-DVD at CES 2006, the first
trade show where they were widely represented. Many showed both first run movies,
complete with packaging. Recordable, blank media was also on display at the show. Blank
media was on display from companies such as Maxell, Sony and TDK.
Initially, both HD-DVD players and Blu-Ray Disc players were only going to output high
definition video through their HDMI outputs as a copy protection measure. With the first
generation of HD-DVD players, at least, this is not the case. They give a full 1280 x 720 @
60Hz output through their component jacks (and 1080p through HDMI). This, astoundingly
enough, was due to a decision by content providers to allow component HD output unless
widespread piracy becomes a problem.
It was announced in January of 2005 that the following titles would be available for HD-DVD
in time for the traditionally busy Christmas shopping season:
Warner Brothers / NewLine:
“Batman Begins,” “Constantine,” Tim Burton's “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”,
"Ocean's Eleven", “Ocean's Twelve”, "Catwoman", "Million Dollar Baby", "Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", "Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban", “The Polar Express,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and titles from the
“The Matrix” franchise,"Mystic River", "The Perfect Storm", plus about 25 more feature
films. In addition, the HBO series "The Sopranos" will be included.
Paramount:
“The Manchurian Candidate,” “Elizabethtown,” “Braveheart,” “Forrest Gump,” “SpongeBob
SquarePants,” “Coach Carter,” “Italian Job,” “School of Rock,” “Sky Captain and the World
of Tomorrow,” “Ghost,” “Mission Impossible 2,” “Black Rain,” “Save The Last Dance,”
“Sleepy Hollow,” “U2 Rattle and Hum,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Star Trek:
First Contact,” “We Were Soldiers” and “Grease.”
Universal:
"The Bourne Supremacy", "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Van Helsing", "Apollo 13", "U-571",
"12 Monkeys", "Dune", "The Thing", "End of Days", "Backdraft", "Waterworld", "The Bone
Collector", "Spy Game", "Pitch Black", "Conan the Barbarian", "Dante's Peak"
There are some issues to be concerned with relating to HD-DVD and Blu Ray players. In
July of 2005, Toshiba indicated their new HD-DVD players would only support HD
resolutions through the HDMI outputs. All analog outputs, including component, would be
downrezed to 480p. If your TV or video display does not include HDMI, be aware of this
provision. Other manufacturers will probably follow suit.
Windows Media - HD discs are, as the name suggests, encoded using Microsoft's
Windows Media Video codec. It allows for both 720p and 1080p resolutions on the same
disc. One caveat, the audio is Windows Media Pro 5.1. Currently you must have a surround
sound receiver or processor that can decode this format. Most cannot. The other option is
to use a computer with an Nvidia nForce2 motherboard with SoundStorm. That can
transcode the Windows Media Pro audio to Dolby Digital and output it through the
computer's S/PDIF connection. You can then use any audio processor with Dolby Digital
5.1 decoding.
Microsoft is reportedly making at least ten feature films available in Windows Media high
definition by the 2005 holiday shopping season. With Microsoft's resources, it could
obviously make many more if it chose to. With the proliferation of HTPCs from many
different vendors, we may yet see those WMV-HD discs appear.
Windows Media HD Update - It looks as though the arrival of HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray Disc
may have effectively killed the widespread commercial availability of feature films on WMHD
discs. HD-DVD and BR Disc computer drives will give HTPC owners the ability to access HD
content from the same discs they can play on the player in their living room or home
theater. As of mid 2006 the only new feature film listed on the Microsoft website was Titanic
- Special Edition. Ironically, in time physical media will probably go away entirely, ceding the
home movie market to downloaded content, some of which will undoubtedly use WMV-HD.
Blank HD-DVD & Blu Ray Disc Media-
There were numerous displays of both Dlu-Ray Discs and HD-DVD at CES 2006, the first
trade show where they were widely represented. Many showed both first run movies,
complete with packaging. Recordable, blank media was also on display at the show. Blank
media was on display from companies such as Maxell, Sony and TDK.
One of the HD-DVD
displays at CES 2006.
displays at CES 2006.
Copyright 2004 -8 - 1 touchmovie.com
Home theater and Automation Guide All
rights reserved.
Home theater and Automation Guide All
rights reserved.
The New High Definition Disc Formats -
HD-DVD & Blu-Ray Disc - What's the Difference?
(Does It Matter Anymore?)
HD-DVD & Blu-Ray Disc - What's the Difference?
(Does It Matter Anymore?)
1 Touch Movie.com
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Another Big Advantage of HD-DVD and Blu Ray Disc- Better Audio
Although the audio quality from standard DVD has been pretty fantastic, technology
marches ever onward. Dolby Labs and DTS have both introduced new digital audio formats
that are superior to Dolby Digital and DTS digital that have been used for the last decade.
The new formats use better compression algorithms to bring even more dynamic sound to
go with the high definition video.
The new formats are Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
The new digital audio formats are not transmitted using the traditional optical or coaxial
SPDIF digital audio connectors as their predecessors. They either have to be decoded in
the disc player, or transmitted over HDMI to a surround processor or receiver that can
decode them. These audio components started appearing in the summer of 2007, with
many more units introduced at the 2007 CEDIA Expo in Denver from companies such as
Onkyo, Denon, and Marantz.
marches ever onward. Dolby Labs and DTS have both introduced new digital audio formats
that are superior to Dolby Digital and DTS digital that have been used for the last decade.
The new formats use better compression algorithms to bring even more dynamic sound to
go with the high definition video.
The new formats are Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
The new digital audio formats are not transmitted using the traditional optical or coaxial
SPDIF digital audio connectors as their predecessors. They either have to be decoded in
the disc player, or transmitted over HDMI to a surround processor or receiver that can
decode them. These audio components started appearing in the summer of 2007, with
many more units introduced at the 2007 CEDIA Expo in Denver from companies such as
Onkyo, Denon, and Marantz.
HD-DVD / BluRay
Format War Update:
It's all over. Even most
of the shouting has died
down now, as Toshiba
has decided to abandon
the HD-DVD format they
developed and
championed, to cut their
losses, and get on with
actually selling product.
Format War Update:
It's all over. Even most
of the shouting has died
down now, as Toshiba
has decided to abandon
the HD-DVD format they
developed and
championed, to cut their
losses, and get on with
actually selling product.
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